


Murder of a Crow

by owlmoose



Series: From Dust We Came [5]
Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-27
Updated: 2012-08-27
Packaged: 2017-11-12 23:37:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/496941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlmoose/pseuds/owlmoose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How do you move on after killing someone you once called "friend"? Kasia Brosca and Zevran Arainai compare notes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Murder of a Crow

It had been a long, tiring day — tramping through the streets of Denerim, fighting mercenaries and thugs, following up on leads, listening for gossip — and after dinner and a quick bath, Kasia found Zevran in a room off the kitchen, cleaning his knives. He looked no more or less pensive than usual, and she marveled at how calm he seemed. He was free of the Crows; he had killed a rival whom he'd once called friend, and yet it didn’t seem to shake him. Nothing ever seemed to shake him. “Zev?”

He looked up with a smile. “Ah, there you are,” he said. “I could get used to this. The last time I stayed in Denerim, it was in an inn where the bedbugs had fleas.” She chuckled, and he flashed another grin before returning the knife to its sheath. “But I’m sure that’s not what you came to talk about. What is your wish?”

Her “wish” was to drag him into a nearby wardrobe and have her way with him, take that plush lower lip hard between her teeth and ride him until he begged for mercy, but something told her that the Arl wouldn’t take very kindly to discovering his guests snogging in public. No, ravishing him would have to wait, and that wasn’t really why she had come, anyway. Instead, she hopped up on the end table next to him, and he leaned against the wall, turning to face her. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Okay?” He laughed, a rich warm sound that tingled down to her toes. “Kas, do you know how few people ever become truly free of the Crows? They do not exactly encourage a long retirement. My escape is a rare gift, and I intend to treasure every moment of it.” He stepped around to face her, dropped his hands to her hips, and leaned in close, his hair brushing her cheek, his breath warm against her ear. “I can think of a few ways to start celebrating, if you like.”

More than her toes were tingling now, but she resisted temptation and pulled back. “It’s not about that, it’s more…” She bit her lip, thinking about her next words. “I was thinking about you and Taliesen. He was your friend once, right?”

He shrugged. “One doesn’t really have friends in the Crows. Trusting him was a mistake. I learned that one the hard way. After Rinna…” He looked away, a ghost of a shadow crossing his face. “I blame him for that, you know. Almost as much as I blame myself.”

She nodded. “So then, did killing him make you feel better?”

“Ah.” Zevran looked back at her, and a warm light of understanding came into his eyes. “You are not only asking for my sake, are you?”

Kasia stared back at him. She had given him the barest outline of what happened with Leske; if he’d guessed at the thoughts churning in her mind, fine, but she really didn’t want to go into it now. “Just answer the question.”

He studied her face for a long moment, brows drawn in silent thought. Then he lowered his eyes. “I don’t know yet. I might have a better answer tomorrow, or the next day. But for tonight?” He shook his head, then looked back at her, eyes still clear, his shoulders rising with a deep breath. “What I can say is this: it was him or me, and regardless of anything else I might feel, I prefer that it was not me. Or you.” He ran the side of his finger down her nose, then brought his palm around to cup her cheek. “That, my friend, is never in question.”

She could not help but smile in return, and as she did, she felt a weight lifting from her shoulders, the knot that had tied itself in her stomach in Orzammar starting to loosen. “Him or me,” she repeated, under her breath, then met his eyes again. “You’re right. Better it was him.”

“That’s the spirit.” Zevran patted her cheek, then dropped his hands. “Now, did they arrange somewhere for us to sleep, or do I have to make friends with the scullery maids?”

“We have quarters in the back. C’mon, I’ll show you the way.” Kasia jumped down from the table, letting her hand trail down his arm to catch at his fingers before she pulled free. Propriety be damned; neither of them would be sleeping alone tonight. The Arl would accept her for who she was, or not at all.


End file.
